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Conference USA Basketball
Recap of Saturday, February 11th games
Updated Conference USA basketball standings
Tulsa 80, Rice 73 (OT)
Darold Crow scored 21 points and Tulsa hit a season-high 12 3-pointers as the Golden Hurricane beat Rice on Saturday. Tulsa made 8-of-10 free throws and didn't miss a field goal in the extra period to narrowly win a game they led by 14 points in the second half.
Morris Almond led the Owls with 31 points, his third straight game over 30 points. Rice coach Willis Wilson was ejected with 14:36 left in the game after receiving two technical fouls after Almond picked up his third foul. Tulsa hit of 12-of-24 3-pointers for the game, led by Crow and Wallace with four each. Wallace finished with 16 points and Anthony Price and Charles Ramsdell each added 10. Tulsa took a 49-35 lead after Brett McDade hit 2-of-4 free throws on Wilson's technicals. But Wilson's tirade seemed to ignite the Owls, who went on an immediate 12-1 run to cut Tulsa's lead to 50-47 at 9:34. Rice will welcome East Carolina on Wednesday while Tulsa will take a week off before traveling to Houston.
#3 Memphis 91, Marshall 81
Darius Washington scored seven of his 20 points during a 17-0 second-half run and Memphis beat the Thundering Herd 91-81 on Saturday. Rodney Carney also added 20 points as the Tigers overcame an early 11 point lead by the Herd. Markel Humphrey had a career-high 19 points for Marshall. Mark Patton, the Thundering Herd's leading scorer, sat out much of the game with foul trouble and finished with 13 points, all in the second half. The 17-0 Memphis run gave the Tigers a 68-54 lead with 12:47 remaining. During this stretch, Marshall went more than five minutes without a field goal.
Marshall and Memphis had not met since December 1953. Memphis joined 1961 national champion Cincinnati as the highest-ranked opponent to play in Huntington. Memphis will host Southern Miss on Tuesday while Marshall travels to SMU on Wednesday.
UTEP 77, Southern Miss 72 (2OT)
John Tofi scored a career-high 30 points and Kevin Henderson had six of his 11 points in the second overtime to help UTEP beat Southern Mississippi on Saturday night. Henderson broke a 66-all tie with a basket with 3:23 left in double OT and hit a 3-pointer 49 seconds later, and the Miners outscored Southern Miss 13-8 during the extra period to claim their second straight victory. Edgar Moreno added 11 points for UTEP, Will Kimball had 10 points and Tofi had 10 rebounds. Courtney Beasley led the Golden Eagles with 17 points. David Cornwell added 16 points, Chris Craft scored 11 and Travis Hall and Singleton each had 10. UTEP was 33-of-48 from the free-throw line, while Southern Miss made just 8-of-14 foul shots. It was the third overtime game for each team this season, with UTEP improving to 2-1 while Southern Miss fell to 1-2. Southern Miss travels up I-55 to Memphis on Tuesday while UTEP will step out of conference to play Alabama A&M on Tuesday.
UCF 72, Tulane 51
UCF continued their helter skelter season by finally showing up and drubbing Tulane on Saturday night. Josh Peppers led the Golden Knights with 11 points and Anthony Williams also finished in the double digits with 10 points. UCF made 19-of-22 foul shots and forced 22 Tulane turnovers. The Golden Knights broke a three-game losing skid and also ended Tulane's four-game winning streak. UCF connected on nine 3-pointers and shot 47.4 percent from downtown while Tulane made just two 3-pointers and shot 18.2 percent from long range. Tulane committed 14 turnovers in the opening stanza and shot 30 percent from the field, including just 16.7 percent from three-point range. With the win, UCF moves 1.5 games out of the coveted 4th spot in the standings. UCF will host Houston on Wednesday and Tulane will travel to Birmingham to take on the Blazers.
UAB 72, East Carolina 64
Marvett McDonald scored 15 of his 18 points in the second half to help UAB pull away form East Carolina 72-64. Wen Mukubu and Paul Delaney scored 12 points each for UAB (17-5, 7-2 C-USA). Lawrence Kinnard added 10 points for the Blazers. Corey Rouse had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead East Carolina (7-15, 1-8). Sam Hinnnant added 14 points and Jeremy Ingram had 13 for the Pirates. East Carolina out rebounded UAB 41-26. But UAB had 13 steals and forced 26 East Carolina turnovers. UAB will host Tulane on Wednesday and East Carolina will travel to Rice.
| Houston 69, SMU 57 Ramon Dyer scored a career-high 25 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead the University of Houston to a 69-57 victory over SMU Saturday night. The matchup of old SWC foes didn’t excite the Houston area as attendance seemed reserved for family and friends only. The Cougars led 24-17 with 3:08 left to play in the first half when Dyer scored the final six points to give Houston a 30-17 halftime lead. In the second half, Houston picked up right where it left off as the Cougars made 12 of their first 14 shots from the field and four of their six free throws to open up a 59-38 lead with 9:37 left to play. Derrick Roberts led SMU with 17 points, while Bryan Hopkins has 12 points and Devon Pearson added 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds for the Mustangs. Houston will travel to UCF in an attempt to put some space between them and the Knights on Wednesday while Marshall will be welcomed to SMU. |
Updated Conference USA basketball standings
by John Griffin, CUSA-fans.com Basketball Staff Writer
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